The Alexander
Turnbull Library has just acquired letters and photographs
sent by Edward Prince of Wales to his lover back in England
while he was on tour in New Zealand in 1920. A sample of the
letters can be seen in a small display in the Alexander
Turnbull Library until 20 July.

In the late summer of
1920, Edward, the Prince of Wales, spent four weeks in New
Zealand. It was part of a long tour around the British
Empire that included Canada, Australia, Fiji, Samoa and
Trinidad.

He was extremely popular; crowds flocked to see
him. In 29 days, he visited at least 42 places, from
Auckland to Invercargill, shaking hands, inspecting troops,
visiting soldiers’ hospitals, attending school children
parades, speaking and listening at formal welcomes and
farewells, watching sports events, waving from railway
carriages, dancing at balls, and much more.

All through
his visit he was writing long letters back to his lover in
London, Mrs Freda Dudley Ward. He had met her in 1918, and
was besotted. The long expedition away from her was very
painful to him and the letters are full of expressions of
how much he misses her.

Of particular interest to New
Zealand are his detailed descriptions of the places he
visited, the duties he performed, and the people he met.
There were some things he liked, but generally he had an
extremely miserable time. In one letter he wrote ‘It is
a rotten way of seeing a fine country… Returned soldiers &
shrieking crowds & school children are all I shall remember
from my visit my beloved though I might add drunkinos as
half the men are overflowing with scotch at most of the
places I’ve been to.’

There are many more such quotes,
and some are given below.

The Curator of Manuscripts at
the Alexander Turnbull Library, David Colquhoun, commented
that ‘these are fascinating letters. I certainly have not
read anything quite like them before. They are long,
detailed, lively and very frank. Of particular interest to
New Zealanders are his descriptions of the places he
visited, people he met and the functions he attended, all of
which he described for Freda’s benefit. He was frequently
far less than flattering, but the letters are revealing
about our adulation of royalty then, and about what passed
for New Zealand high society at that time.

‘Among other
irritations, he found many of our civic leaders unbearably
pompous, bemoaned the lack of dancing ability among New
Zealand women, and was embarrassed by having to wear cloaks
at Maori ceremonies. But his descriptions are certainly
entertaining.

‘He might come across as rather a
self-pitying upper-class twit, but he was given a horrendous
programme. To his credit, he left the impression that he was
pleased to be here. It was only in these private letters
that he let down his guard and said what he really
thought.’

There are seven letters, five written from New
Zealand, one from Fiji on his way here, and one from Fiji,
Samoa and Hawaii on his way back home. In all, they total 85
clearly written pages. In addition, there are 17 photographs
of his activities in New Zealand and Fiji, each annotated
for Freda’s benefit on the back. They were all purchased
from a London dealer for $26,000.

Passages from the
letters have been previously published as part of the 1998
Letters from a Prince edited by Rupert Godfrey. But much was
not included in that book. The Turnbull Library hopes to
make copies of the letters available on the National Library
website as soon as permission is granted by the copyright
holders.

The Prince and Dudley-Ward remained lovers
through the 1920s. Eventually, however, the Prince’s
affections turned to the American divorcee Mrs Wallis
Simpson. He became King in early 1936 and abdicated later
that year so that he could marry her.

Further quotes from
the letters

Arrival‘…Well here we are arrived in
New Zealand enfin sweetheart & it’s really rather a relief
to feel that one has at last ‘struck bed rock’ as
regards the object of the whole trip tho the mere thought of
the programme they insist on my carrying out is staggering
as we really are in for a bloody awful month angel & Christ
only knows how far gone towards insanity we’ll be at the
end of it all when we go to Australia!!’

The welcoming
crowds‘…a most marvellous welcome here in the
capital of the Dominion the crowds were so dense that I had
to stand up in the car the whole way!!… for once I was
gratified and felt quite the cheap hero!!… we managed to
keep fairly cheery despite never one hour free from returned
soldiers and school children!! Christ how cadets, boy scouts
and school children and their cheers and “God saves” and
“God blesses” get on my nerves… ‘(5 May,
Wellington)

‘It is a rotten way of seeing a fine
country… Returned soldiers & shrieking crowds & school
children are all I shall remember from my visit my beloved
though I might add drunkinos as half the men are overflowing
with scotch at most of the places I’ve been to.’ (8 May,
Wellington).

‘We arrived here at 7.00 after a tedious
train journey from Christchurch which we left at 10am which
involved shopping at 6 places… I feel oh! so so
desperately lonely my beloved Fredie till I could shoot
myself!!… Oh how I’ve been shrieked & yelled at this
afternoon till I could cry sweetheart though I know its
ungrateful and rotten to talk like this; I ‘ve had a
marvellous welcome here as everywhere though I’m so stale
and tired now.’ (18 May, Dunedin)

Governor General Lord
Liverpool‘ …the Liverpools are the absolute limit
beloved one; he is too hopelessly pompous & impossible for
words while she is so shy that she hardly ever utters &
I’ve given up even trying to make conversation!!’ (25
April, Auckland)

‘They really are too intolerable for
words & besides being a ---- (4 letters!!) he’s a liar and
a cheat at any games: cards, golf and everything. And he’s
too pricelessly pompous for words. I could never tell you
how much I loath him.’ (8 May, Wellington)

Maori
welcomes‘Todays stunts altho terribly boring and
irritating wld anyway have been a little interesting if it
hadn’ t poured in sheets till 3.00pm. I had to go through
long and tedious Maori ceremonies at both the native
villages & had to submit to being made to look the most
hopeless B.F dolled up in mats & other things while inane
Maories danced & made weird noises at me!! Some of the Maori
women sand and danced quite nicely tho they spoilt their
stunt by revolting me by kissing my hand when I shook hands
with them all…’ (28 April, Rotorua)

Returned
servicemen‘I inspected a huge parade of returned men
territorials and cadets which took over 1 hour to do…like
all these parades it left me rather a wreck as the mental
strain is so great…’

I had to go down to the wharf and
cross the harbour on a ferry to Devonport to visit a
returned soldiers’ hospital where I found 100 men mostly
T.B. cases & they are sordid too!! (25 April,
Auckland)

The Imperial Hotel, Wanganui‘Such a
pompous address my beloved but its really a miserable hole;
no electric light & the hotel boilers elected to burst
before dinner so no baths & a very nasty dinner!! But we are
all rather peeved tonight as we have had a desperately
twying day…. I’m frozen as there’s no heating in my
room & I’m sitting huddled up in an overcoat!’ (4 May,
Wanganui)

Dances and New Zealand woman‘We have just
returned from the most priceless funny party that one could
imagine, there wasn’t a single woman who had the least
idea how to dance & the “squeejee band” and the floor
and everything tho we stuck it out like heroes until the
supper & tried to lug those wads of ham faced women around
altho we were all feeling very weary and thoroughly peeved.
But perhaps its unkind to talk about these poor peoples’
gallant efforts to entertain us in this way but we’ve been
suffering under these ghastly sordid entertainments for over
a fortnight now!!’ (11 May, Nelson)

‘These New
Zealand women really are too amazingly plain and
unattractive for words sweetie and their powers of
conversation nil.’ (14 May, Christchurch)

The West
Coast‘It hasn’t all been easy this week on the W.
coast as its very bolshie altho there were no incidents!! A
few of the returned soldiers leaders were rather truculent
sweetheart (tho. not the men themselves) & we had to be very
tactful as of course the most important item of the trip are
the returned men & all would be over if I got wrong with
them!! Then the mayor of Christchurch is an absolute wrong
un…. But then he’s a socialist “of the people, by the
people, for the people” & worst of all he started talking
politics and was most offensive.’ (14 May
Christchurch)

Being a royal‘… every day I long
more and more to chuck this job & be out of it & free for
you sweetie; the more I think of it all the more certain I
am that really (tho not on the surface just yet awhile for
Britishers) the day for Kings and Princes is past monarchies
are out of date tho I know it’s a rotten thing to say &
sounds Bolshevik!!’ (28 April, Rotorua)

‘It is a real
hard life this Fredie darling beloved & Christ how I loathe
it & hate it as I do anything as unreal & artificial as this
fearful existence.’ (8 May 2007)

His
family‘Christ! how I loathe and despise my bloody
family…But if H.M thinks he is going to alter me by
insulting you he’s making just about the biggest mistake
of his silly useless life; all he has done is infuriate me
and make me despise him…’ (22 May,
Lyttleton)

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